Diarrhoea

Symptoms

Loose, watery faeces possibly discoloured and foul smelling

Cause

Occurs secondary to other disease and ailments or to a change in environment. If a horse is placed into pasture with rich grass after being in pasture with no grass it is likely to develop diarrohoea. It commonly does not exist over a long period of time in the adult horse. There are two types, chronic and acute. Acute diarrhoea can be caused by rotovirus or poisioning, and chronic diarrhoea can be caused by parasites or malabsorption syndrome.

Treatment

The exact cause of the diarrhoea need to be identified and treated which will then stop the diarrhoea. If the cause is parasites, then anthelmintic drugs can be administered and then a worming plan and faecal egg counts can be used afterwards to prevent a high burden building up.

Please remember this information is provided as a guide only and professional advice should be sought before any diagnosis or treatment is applied.